Research Manager, AI Infrastructure

Lenovo; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 203,000 - 311,000; Full time

Job summary

Lenovo Intelligent Computing Lab (ICI) in California is seeking a technically credible, strategically minded researcher/leader to join our AI computing infrastructure team. You will own the roadmap connecting emerging AI infrastructure technologies to the Hybrid AI strategy.

This role requires an advanced degree and 8+ years in AI infrastructure, with at least 3 years leading research or development teams. You will translate research into shipped products and collaborate across product,

Qualifications

• Advanced degree required in computer science or related field.
• 8+ years in systems/AI infrastructure R&D with 3+ years leading teams.
• Experience translating research into shipped products.
• Deep grounding in AI accelerators, datacenter networking, or memory hierarchy.

Responsibilities

• Define high-leverage AI infrastructure research bets aligned to product impact.
• Provide hands-on guidance on system architecture and co-optimization.
• Collaborate with product and business to transition research into Enterprise and Personal AI lines.

Skills

AI infrastructure

System architecture

LLM serving optimization

Power efficiency

Distributed training/inference

Education

PhD/MS in CS/CE

Job description

* United States of America - California - San Jose

* United States of America - California - Palo Alto

Why Work at Lenovo

We are Lenovo. We do what we say. We own what we do. We WOW our customers.

Lenovo is a US$83 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #153 in the Fortune Global 500, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver Smarter Technology for All, Lenovo has built on its success as the world’s largest PC company with a full-stack portfolio of AI-enabled, AI-ready, and AI-optimized devices (PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets), infrastructure (server, storage, edge, high performance computing and software defined infrastructure), software, solutions, and services. Lenovo’s continued investment in world-changing innovation is building a more equitable, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. Lenovo is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange under Lenovo Group Limited (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY).

This transformation together with Lenovo’s world-changing innovation is building a more inclusive, trustworthy, and smarter future for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit www.lenovo.com , and read about the latest news via our StoryHub .

Description and Requirements

*Please Note* This is a hybrid role in Palo Alto. This candidate will be required to work onsite three days a week.

This candidate MUST be a US citizen or US national; US permanent residents or candidates requiring sponsorship cannot be considered.

Position Description:

Lenovo Intelligent Computing Lab (ICI) is seeking a technically credible, strategically minded researcher/leader to join our world-class research group in AI computing infrastructure technology.

Who are we at Lenovo ICI Lab?

• A global team of highly qualified researchers and engineers advancing the frontier of AI infrastructure and agentic AI acceleration to power Lenovo next-generation Hybrid AI strategies
• The team brings deep, hands-on expertise across intelligent computing technology, AI networking, sustainability, AI data storage, KV cache & data acceleration, and hardware/software co-optimization to enable full-stack efficiency for model training, fine-tuning, and serving
• The team has a dual mandate and a proven record on both fronts: shipping future-defining products for Enterprise AI and Personal AI, and publishing research at top-tier venues in systems, architecture, and machine learning

The Role and Responsibilities

Work with a group of talented and motivated researchers and translate breakthrough systems research into product and business impact. You will own the roadmap connecting emerging AI infrastructure technologies to the company's Hybrid AI strategy, balancing long-horizon research bets with near-term product deliverables.

• Define and identify high-leverage research bets in AI computing infrastructure, prioritizing against product and business impact
• Provide hands-on technical guidance on system architecture, performance, power efficiency, and co-optimization trade-offs for LLM training, fine-tuning, and inference/serving
• Partner with product, engineering, and business development to transition research into Enterprise AI and Personal AI product lines

Required Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (PhD/MS) in computer science, computer engineering, or related disciplines
• 8+ years in systems/architecture/AI infrastructure R&D, including 3+ years leading research or advanced development teams
• Deep technical grounding in at least two of: AI accelerators and intelligent computing; datacenter networking; storage systems; memory hierarchy/KV cache optimization; energy-efficient systems design; distributed training/inference stacks
• Demonstrated record of translating research into shipped products or production infrastructure

Preferred Qualifications:

• Track record of publications at top-tier systems, architecture, or ML venues, and/or a substantial patent portfolio
• Direct experience with LLM serving optimization (e.g., KV cache management, speculative decoding, disaggregated prefill/decode, quantization-aware serving)
• Experience with agentic AI systems: multi-agent orchestration, tool-use pipelines, long-context and memory-augmented inference
• Familiarity with hybrid AI deployment models spanning cloud, edge, and on-device NPUs
• Experience with sustainability metrics and energy-aware system design (carbon-aware scheduling, perf/watt optimization)

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any federal, state, or local protected class.

Additional Locations: * United States of America - California - San Jose * United States of America - California - Palo Alto

PAY TRANSPARENCY

The anticipated annual compensation range for this position is202,800–310,960 USD. Final compensation will be based on relevant experience, skills, and business considerations. Individuals may also be considered for bonuses and/or commissions. Lenovo’s various benefits can be found at www.lenovobenefits.com

If you require an accommodation to complete this application, please contact [e-mail]